Clock



P. R. AYRES Dec. 1, 1936.

CLOCK Filed March 17, 1933 .Patented Dec. 1, 1936 Penne R. Ayres, Roanoke, Va.

Application Mama it,

7 Claims.

This invention relates to clocks, particularly toV striking mechanism therefor, and the objects of the invention are: v

To provide a striking mechanism which shall .be simple and cheap to construct, composed of very fewparts and which is readily adaptable to assembly in quantityI production Without the necessity of delicate hand adjustment of any of the parts.

It is also an object to provide a striking mechanism particularly adapted yto synchronous motor electric clocks and .to providel a novel control means for takingpower from the synchronous motor to drive the striking mechanism.

Further obiectsand advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, ,reference being vhad to they accompanying drawing, wherein f y Fig.. 1 is a front viewof a .clock constructed according to the-present invention. and on which the dial and hands are'notA shown for the sake of clearness;I v

Fig.i2 is a detail viewgshowing ya part of the invention whichis attached to the hour wheel of the clock;

-Fig.c3 is a partial detailfview of parts of the invention' forming a unitaryassembly, the view being `taken from the back..y i

Fig. .4 is a cross secticnon line 41-4 of Fig. l. Fig. 5 isi a top view partly in.A section of the powertake-oi ycontrol mechanism.

Fig. iis a perspective viewshowing the mechanism attachedto thehour wheel;

Fig. 7 is a perspective viewvshowing the tripping mechanism f .l

Fig. 8 is a perspective View showing the power take-01T control mechanism. v

Fig..9 is a perspective. view of apart of the strikinghead In constructing astriking/mechanism particufrom the time train of a synchronous motor clock.' In .'listinctionv fromv other fclocksxin Whichthe 193s, sessi nastiest (el. :ss-ssi striking-mechanism is driven from the synchronous motor through clutches or shitable gears the present device provides a constantly rotating member Vldriven by the ysynchronous motor and which is adapted tooscillate the tail of a lever, and connection between 'the rotary member and the `lever is established by ,moving the lever into and out of the path of the rotary member.

The preferred form of the invention also embraces a novel .mechanism for determining the number of strokes at any hour which is considerably simpler and more reliable kthan the usual countwheel or rack and snail. There is provided a rotary member mountedc cncentrically to the hour wheelf and which isadapted to be released from its starting position once each hour. The motion of this wheel when released is limited by the position of the hour Wheel itself by means of cooperating stopsI mounted on the member and the hour vwheel respectively. Means is provided for permitting movement of. the hour hand through the position in Whichfthestops would otherwise interfere with each other without in anyway affecting proper operation oi the striking mechanism. l

Referring now to Fig. l., there is shown a clock having the frame plate 2 which'-carriesthe usual synchronous motor andv time train, the latter driving the. minute shaft@ andthe hour sleeve A bridgemember S is secured to the iront or the plate Vr2 in spaced .relation by means of suitable fasteningsl and carries ixed thereto a sleeve i2. -Mounted on the sleeve i2 for free rotation thereon is a' toothed Wheel lllfhaving one short tooth I6 for a purpose to be .later mentioned. Pivoted on the plate yat i8 is a control lever Ethaving a hole 2l formed therein for permitting limited oscillation about the pivot i8. The toothed wheel ifi is mounted on the sleeve l2 by means of 'a hub member 22 having a flange 24 at its rear end which is spaced fronti the wheel ifi. Between the ange and the wheel lll a spiral spring 25 is located yhaving its inner end fastened to the hub 22 and its outer end secured to post 28 mounted in the plate The wheel ill and its hub. 22 are secured on the sleeve l2 by suitable fastening means such as the ring 36 pressed on the backend of the sleeve ifi. Similar means are provided such as the ring 32 for securing the wheel i4 to the hub A spring member fill is fastened toa post 36 secured to the plate t and has its opposite end bearing against the lever 2li to bias its top end to the right inkFig. l. The plate 8, sleevey I2, wheel lli, control lever and the associatedparts just described are adapted to be Cil assembled together as a unit for ready attachmentI to the remainder of the clock mechanism. The time train of the clock includes the usual dial gears 38, 40, 42 and 44, the latter of which is the hour wheel and is provided with two diametrically opposed longitudinal slots 46. On the front face of the hour wheel 44 there is attached by means of suitable rivets 48 extending into the slots i5 a sliding stop member 50 carrying a boss 52 thereon projecting to the front of the plane of the stop slide 50. One end of the slide has a rounded nose 54 adapted to cooperate with a iixed cam 56 secured to the main frame plate 2 for the purpose of camming the stop slide 50 to the left in Fig. 2 during a certain portion of the rotation. ci wheel A spring 55 urges the slide 50 to the right in Fig. 2. The wheel I4 carries on the back face of its hub flange 24 a stop pin 53 which is spaced from the axis of the wheel I4 a suflicient distance to enable it to meet the flat face of the stop lug 52 when the boss 52 and slide 50 are moved to the full extent of their movement to the right in Fig. 2, but enabling the pin to pass the boss 52 when it lies in the position to the left shown in Fig. 2. The front face of the wheel I4 carries a pin 51 adapted to cooperate with a lug 58 formed on the control lever 20 whereby the wheel I4 when moving counterclockwse into its position of rest may move the control lever 20 also countercloclrwise. A shalt 60 projecting through the frame plate 2 is geared at its inner end to the clock motor by gearing, not shown, which may include part of the time train and carries a disk 62 which carries on its forward face a series of projections or pins 64. The number and the spacing of the pins 64 are chosen in such correlation with the speed of the rotary member 60 that one pin will pass a given point in about the interval desired between strokes of the striking hammer. A hammer arm 66 is secured to a shaft 68 pivoted in the frame plate 2 which carries xed thereto a short lever 10 and a light tail lever 12 mounted to permit a limited amount of front and back motion of the tail end of the lever 12. A spring member 14 normally urges the lever 12 up in Fig. 5 into engagement with the pins 64. The top of the lever 12 is formed with a projecting flange 15 which is interrupted by a slot 18 at one portion. A pin 80 is secured in the outer end of the lever iii and passes through a hole 82 in the lever 12 to prevent rotational movement of the lever 12 on the shaft 88. A bell crank 84 is pivoted. at 86 on the frame plate 2 and has a slot 88 formed in one arm to receive a pin 90 Secured to the lever 'l0 for interconnecting the bell crank and the lever 10. The other arm of the bell crank lever 84 carries pivoted spring pressed pawl 92 having pin 94 at its nose adapted to engage the teeth of the wheel I4 for stepping the same back to the position of rest. The control lever 20 carries at its lower end a projecting portion 9S having a beveled cam surface 68 adapted to force the lever i? ont of the path of the pins 64 when the control lover 2R lies in the position shown in Fig. l the lever 'F2 moves upwardly in Fig. l. The upper end of the surface has a notch. formed therein adapted to receive the flange 16 when the lever 12 is in its fully raised position, as shown l. Tripping means is provided for con trolling the operation of the mechanism so fl scrived predetermined times, such as the hoor and half hour. The minute shaft 4 carries 'diy therewith behind the pinion 38 a trip A trip lever is pivoted at |04 and com o cam follower arm |06 cooperating with the can.

|02 and a tripping arm |08. The cam |02 has two tripping noses, the long one I I0 passing under the arm |06 at the hour and a short one ||2 passing under the arm |86 at the half hour. The outer end of the arm |08 is formed with a return portion carrying a pin I I4 which acts as a holding latch .for the wheel I4. A pawl IIS is pivoted at II8 to the arm |68 and has a pin |20 adapted to limit the clockwise rotation of the pawl IIB under the urge of the spring |22. A stop face |24 on the pawl I6 cooperates with the nose |26 on the upper end of the control lever 20 in preventing clockwise rotation of the control lever 20 when the arm |08 is in the raised position. On the hammer arm 06 there is mounted a hammer head which is comprised of a body member |28, shown in perspective in Fig. 9, having a hole |30 therethrough adapted to receive the arm 66 and having a slightly tapered reduced end portion |32 and an internal bore |34. The reduced portion |32 may be slotted, as shown in Fig. 9. A collar |35 has a bore tapered to fit the portion |32 snugly and in assembly is driven onto the portion |32 in order to clamp the striking leather |38 in the bore |34 and to clamp the head |28 to the arm 6G.

In the operation of the mechanism thus far described it will be seen that the wheel I4 is normally held in the starting position, as shown in Fig. l, by the pin ||4 on arm |08, the spring 26 being fully wound when the wheel i4 is in this position. The pin 51 on wheel I4 holds the control lever 20 in its normal position, as shown in Fig. l, in which it is moved to the limit of its motion in counterclockwise direction against a suitable stop |39, and in which the projecting portion 96 at the bottom of the control lever 20 lies in contact with the flange 16 on the lever 12 at the notch |28. When the minute hand next passes through the hour position the long nose |I0 on the cam |02 raises the arms |06 and |08 of the tripping lever suiciently to permit the pin I I4 to clear all of the teeth on the wheel I4, while at the same time the stop face |24 of the pawl I6 moves up into cooperation with the lug |26 at the top of control lever 20. This permits the wheel I4 to rotate clockwise under the urge of the spring 2S. The amount of this rotation is limited by the stop pin 53 which is mounted on the rear face of flange 24 as it comes into contact with the at face of the boss 52 on the stop slide 50, at all tim es except when the stop slide is cammed to the left Fig. 2 by cam 56. It will then be seen that the amount of rotation of the wheel I4 is determined by the position of the hour wheel 44 since the position of the boss 52 determines the point at which the stop pin 53 will stop further rotation of the wheel I4. As the lever |06 drops from the nose IIO, at the hour, the stop face |24 falls from the path of the lug |26 and permits the spring 34 to move the control lever 20 clockwise ag inst a stop, not shown, inasmuch as the pin 51 1s now out of the way of the lug 58 due to the initial rotation of the wheel I4. The clockwise movement of the lever 20 moves the projection 95 of the lever oil from the ange 16 and opposite the slot 18 so that the lever 12 is now permitted to move inwardly into the path of the pins 64 under the urge of the spring 14. In-asrnuch as the rotary member 6'! is constantly driven by the synchronous motor the pins 64 will each depress the lever 12 until they pass oli from the end of the same, as shown in Fig. 8, with the consequent oscillation of the shaft 68 and hammer lever 66, thus causing the hammer to strike a sounding element |40. At each oscillation of the lever 12 the bell crank St is also oscillated simultaneously therewith through the pin 90 and slot 823. This causes the pawl 92 and pin 94 to step the wheel lli in a counterclockwise direction, one step for each stroke of the hammer. Inasmuch as there are twelve teeth on the wheel I4 it will be seen that the number of strokes will be equal to the numeral of the hour at which the hour hand stands at each operation of the mechanism. At the last stroke of the hammer for any hour as the wheel I4 moves into its position of rest, the pin 5l moves the control lever 20 counterclockwise in Fig. 1. inasmuch as arm IBB will be raised due to passing over the tooth I6 at the time, the pivoted pawl I i6 will permit the lug |26 to move to the left over the nose of the pawl H5 and when it has passed over the same will return to the position illustrated under the urge of the spring I22. It will also be noted that at the time the control lever 2u moves into its normal position the arm 12 will be at the bottom of its stroke and will not be cammed out of the path of the pins 64 until the arm 'l2 is released from the pin S4 and is thus raised under the urge of the spring M2. At twelve oclock the boss 52 would come into the position occupied by the pin 53. At this time, however, the cam 5t moves the slide Sil and boss 52 to the left in Fig. 2, thus removing the boss 52 from the path of the stop pin 53. When the wheel M- is released at twelve oclock the rotation of the same is limited, not by nie stop pin 53 and boss 52, but by the pin 51, which, after the wheel I4 has made nearly a complete revolution, comes in contact with the opposite face of the lug 58, thus limiting the rotation of the wheel I4 to nearly one revolution. At the time the arm lil@ drops off from the nose I I0 the lever 2U rotates clockwise a small amount, as previously described, and this permits a slight further rotation of the wheel I4, thus allowing for a complete revolution oi the wheel M at twelve oclock. The short nose I6 on the iirst tooth of the wheel i4 is for the purpose of conveniently striking each half hour by a single stroke. At the half hour the short nose I I 2 on the cam HB2 comes under the arm IIJG and raises it suiiiciently for the pin I Ill to clear tooth i6, but not suiciently to clear the next tooth on wheel M, thus permitting the wheel I@ to move but one step. At the same time the stop face |213` engages the lug B25, holding lever 2li against movement until arm I drops ofi from the nose IIZ, as previously described. The operation at the half hour is otherwise identical with that taking place when the hour hand stands at one oclock.

It will be noted that if at any time between striking periods an attempt should be made to manually lift the hammer |28, the flange 'it will engage the bottom face of the notch lil and prevent suicient motion oi the hammer and related parts to permit engagement of the lever l2 with pins 6d. rihis is to prevent accidental stoppage or other interference with the synchronous motor by lifting the hammer. It is possible with the present device to manually set the hands either forward or backward as fast or as slowly as desired without in any way interfering with the striking mechanism. There is provided on the cam HB2 a recessed cammina portion iM at each operating nose lIEl and SI2 which engages with the lever I to cam the same outwardly to the front face oi the cam M32 whenever the hand is rotated backward, the arm being sui'liciently resilient to permit this operation. The striking mechanism is self-synchronizing at every hour inasmuch as, if at any time the wheel I l is displaced from its position of rest due to setting of the hands, it will be returned to the position of rest as soon as the synchronous motor is started and at the next hour the striking operation will take place, as previously described.

lt will be seen, therefore, that the invention provides a striking mechanism composed of few and comparatively rugged parts and which require no delicate adjustments. The mechanism is particularly adapted to synchronous motor electric clocks. It is not limited in its application thereto inasmuch as the rotating member which oscillates the hammer lever may be driven from any other suitable source of power instead of from the synchronous motor, as will be obvious to those skilled in the art. The invention also provides a striking mechanism which is readily assembled and parts of which may be constructed as unitary sub-assemblies for later assembly onto the other parts of the clocks without requiring adjustment of the parts after or during assembly.

I claim:

l. ln a striking clock including a time train and a hand arbor driven thereby, the combination ci a rotary member mounted concentric to said arbor, energy storing means urging said member in one direction of rotation, power driven means adapted to rotate said member in the opposite direction, a pair of cooperating stops operatively connected to said arbor and member respectively, and adapted to variably limit the rotation of said member in the one direction in accordance with the position of the hand arbor, means norniaily preventing rotation of the member in one direction and for releasing it at predetermined times, and means for controlling the operation of the power driven means.

2. In a striking clock including a time train and a hand arbor driven thereby, the combination of a rotary member mounted concentric to said arbor, energy storing means urging said member in. one direction of rotation, power driven means adapted to rotate said member in the opposite direction, a pair of cooperating stops operatively connected to said arbor and member respectively, and adapted to variably limit the rotation of said member in the one direction in accordance with the position of the hand arbor, means normally preventing rotation of the member in one direction and for releasing it at predetermined times, means for controlling the operation of the power driven means, and means for withdrawing one stop out of the path of the other when the hand arbor is moved through the position in which said stops would interfere with each other while the rotary member lies in its normal position of rest.

3. In a striking clock including a time train and a hand arbor driven thereby, the combination of a rotary member mounted concentric to said arbor, energy storing means urging said member in one direction of rotation, power driven means adapted to rotate said member in the opposite direction, a pair of cooperating stops operatively connected to said arbor and member respectively, and adapted to variably limit the rotation of said member in the one direction in accordance with the position of the hand arbor, means normally preventing rotation of the member in one direction and for reieasing it at predetermined times, means for controlling the operation of the power driven means, and means for withdrawing one stop out of the path of the otherrwhenftl-ie hand arbor is moved ineither directionthrough aposition in which said 4stop Wouldcotheruriseinterlock. i s 4..-1-n an. electric striking clock the` combination of an electric-motor, va striking hammer including an actuating lever therefor, a member continuously driven by the motor and adapted to oscillate the lever, means -ior forming and breaking operativeconnectie-n direc between said leveriand saidrnember, and for preventing manualj liftingof the hammer suiciently to produce interference with the 'oeration of the motor.-

, f 5. In an; electric striking clock the combination .of a pivoted hammer lever,v a rotary member for attimes oscillating said hammer lever, a. toothed member :variably movable to determine lthe numbenof strokes of the hammer, and a second lever vcarryingcn its longer arm4 a pawl for stepping said toothed member and operatively-connected by. its shorterarrn vto the hammer lever, said second lever being pivoted in the zone lying between said rotary member and the pivot` of the ham-` mer lever. I

. -6; In an electricv striking clock including an electric motor, a time train driven by the motor, hand-arbors driven by the time train and a frame -plate'carrying the time train and carrying the hand arbors projecting from the front sido thereof, the combination of a striking mechanism readily attachable theretowithout substantial alf teration thereof comprising a bridge member attachable to the front of the plate adjacent tothe arbors, rotary toothed wheel for predetermining the number of strokes, a sleeve xed to the bridge and carrying the wheel concentric to the` arbors, eooperating stopsoperatively connected to the a-oezleal,

wheeL and `to, onearbor for vdetermining the amountofmction of the wheel at predetermined times, atripping, lever pivoted on the front of the plate ata point.` removed from the arbors, a hammer lever pivotedl on the, plate at another point removed from the arbors, means operatively con-l nected to the hammer lever to step the Atoothed wheel, a control lever carried bysaid bridge melmber andradapted to transfer control effects from the tripping lever to the hammer lever, andy means drivenby said motor foroscillating the hammer leverunderthe controlyof the control lever, said bridge member,v toothed wheel and control lever being assembled as a unit and atta-enable lto the clockinoperative position ,by securing the bridge member totheplate. l y

7. VIn a striking clock including a time train and a hand arbor driven thereby, the combination of a rotary member mounted concentric to` said yare bor, energy storing` means urging said member in onedirection of rotation, power kdriven means adaptedto rotate said. member in the opposite direction, la pair of cooperating stops operatively connected tolsaidy arbor and member respectively, and adapted to Yvariably limit the rotation of said member in the one directionin accordance with the position ofthe hand arbor`,.means normally preventingu'otation of ,the `member in one direction and for releasing- `it atv predetermined times, means for controllingthe,operation of the power driven means, and means for withdrawing one stop` out of thepath ofthe other when ythe hand arbor moves through the twelve oclock position and'means -forlimiting rotation of the toothed wheel at twelve oclock. i

PENNIE R. AYRES. 

